• Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.

Been in Bulgaria for 2 days, Been called "Nigger" multiple times in the street

Status
Not open for further replies.
S

SirRattleBalls

Banned
I arrived in Sofia on Saturday, me and my GF are spending our 5 year anniversary here. The first day was okay, we both got funny looks from people on the road but that was about it. Sunday comes round and we decide to walk into town, we passed the Football Stadium which has a huge green area and water fountains the i heard " I love my country nigger free".. the guy who said it was a young guy who repeated it twice. Me and my GF just looked in shock that someone can be so openly racist. So we walk on and pay no attention to it.

On our way back to the hotel we decided to walk on the other side of the green area near the stadium, again we get the funny looks from people but pay no attention, i notice a group of again young people sitting on benches in the stadium wall, one of them noticed me and my GF, she ran and told her friends then we start hearing a barrage of people saying " Hey nigger", "comehere nigger" , " Nigger Nigger Nigger". again me and my GF just kept on walking. We did not want to give them any attention. Its just a huge culture shock, I'm from London and i've never experienced open racism like this in my life. We have a huge Bulgarian population in London and im just trying very hard to not let this effect how i see Bulgarians in general.

End note, i don't think i'll ever step foot into this fucking country for the rest of my life.

Mini update...

We realised that this did not happen outside the football stadium ... But outside the national palace of culture... My geography is bad. But still the sheer irony is amazing.
Click to expand...
 
TheRedSnifit

TheRedSnifit

Member
There's not really much else to say beyond welcome to Eastern Europe. Most of the countries are going to be like that, unfortunately.

Sorry you had to experience that.
 
G

Golden_Pigeon

Banned
I am very sorry for your experience. It's sadly too common in Central/Eastern Europe.

I advise you to avoid all things football-related, since so many football hooligans group are plagued with neo-nazi skinheads.

The only person i knew from this region (from Hongria) was physically suffering from panic attack at the sight of arabic people.
 
C

Chaos2Frozen

Member
Sounds about right, when studying in U.K. I had a Bulgarian Friend warned me about that.

Pretty sure they have their go to word prepared for an Asian like me as well.
 
-Plasma Reus-

-Plasma Reus-

Service guarantees member status
You'll find the most racist areas to be in the east of Europe. I've had an Eastern european girlfriend and an eastern European friend tell me the exact same thing. These same countries have also elected government's who are extremely against inmigration, while at the same time demanding entry into western europe.
 
E

Escape Goat

Member
I always thought nigger was an American pejorative. That's awful to hear. We're they being menacing or were they just trying to get under your skin, no pun intended.
 
G

GCX

Member
I don't want to generalize too much but sadly this is the case in many eastern European countries.
 
9

99Luffy

Banned
Sounds like soccer hooligans, aka 'ultras.' Probably not indicative of the general population...

There was that incident some time ago in ukraine where they attacked indian fans for no reason, even though they were cheering for the same team.
 
C

cpp_is_king

Member
I mentioned this in another thread. The only thing noteworthy here is that they said it in English. When you go to Thailand, Japan, Russia, hell you name it, it's all the same except you don't understand what they're saying.

Obviously you were there and you can judge their demeanor better than I can, but there's a chance they don't have the same grasp as us about how offensive the word is. Like I know when I learn a foreign language I always like to know the "bad words" and I use them sometimes jokingly, and often inappropriately. Others get offended, but to me the word doesn't have the same meaning. After I become more comfortable with the language and culture, I begin to understand how offensive the words are and take on a different attitude.

So, I don't think it's quite the same as if you had experienced that in your home country, but it's still eye-opening and unfortunate that you had to experience that nonetheless.
 
H

HisImperialMajesty

Member
Reminds me of when I was with my family in Sweden and a car slowed down and the people started yelling out "CHING CHONG" loudly at us. No shame at all.

A lot of Europeans can be racist as fuck, but because of the monocultural nature of these countries, things like police brutality don't happen and these countries are seen as liberal paradises. It's easy to forget that European countries have a very recent history of colonialism, imperialism and slavery that still shape their views towards race to this very day.
 
S

Spring-Loaded

Member
cpp_is_king said:
I mentioned this in another thread. The only thing noteworthy here is that they said it in English. When you go to Thailand, Japan, Russia, hell you name it, it's all the same except you don't understand what they're saying.

Obviously you were there and you can judge their demeanor better than I can, but there's a chance they don't have the same grasp as us about how offensive the word is. Like I know when I learn a foreign language I always like to know the "bad words" and I use them sometimes jokingly, and often inappropriately. Others get offended, but to me the word doesn't have the same meaning. After I become more comfortable with the language and culture, I begin to understand how offensive the words are and take on a different attitude.

So, I don't think it's quite the same as if you had experienced that in your home country, but it's still eye-opening and unfortunate that you had to experience that nonetheless.
Click to expand...

This trump-supporter perspective is very interesting, thank you.
 
E

EdibleKnife

Member
Christ that sounds awful. Sorry you even had to deal with a drop of that, OP. And I bet 100% if you got angry about it, they'd call you the asshole. Just goes to show the "just a different culture/customs" argument for racist ignorance is BS. These people wanted you to feel unwelcome.

cpp_is_king said:
Obviously you were there and you can judge their demeanor better than I can, but there's a chance they don't have the same grasp as us about how offensive the word is. Like I know when I learn a foreign language I always like to know the "bad words" and I use them sometimes jokingly, and often inappropriately. .
Click to expand...

"I love my country nigger free". You're honestly gonna say that's not clearly offensive and hostile or is a funny joke in anyway?
 
K

KraftyKrankins

Member
I'm Bulgarian, escaped that hellhole a few years ago and all I can say is....... I'm sorry man. That place is beyond repair. We're probably the most racist one out of all the Eastern Bloc countries, people just don't give a fuck about changing. I'm sorry. :/
 
K

KraftyKrankins

Member
Escape Goat said:
I always thought nigger was an American pejorative. That's awful to hear. We're they being menacing or were they just trying to get under your skin, no pun intended.
Click to expand...

Yes, and no. The bulgarian word for a black skinned person, or just anyone with a darker complexion is unfortunately "negur/негър" which is derived from the N-word, nevermind if it was used with a racist purpose or not. This doesn't seem to be non-racial at all though. :/
 
H

Htown

STOP SHITTING ON MY MOTHER'S HEADSTONE
cpp_is_king said:
Obviously you were there and you can judge their demeanor better than I can, but there's a chance they don't have the same grasp as us about how offensive the word is. Like I know when I learn a foreign language I always like to know the "bad words" and I use them sometimes jokingly, and often inappropriately. Others get offended, but to me the word doesn't have the same meaning. After I become more comfortable with the language and culture, I begin to understand how offensive the words are and take on a different attitude.

So, I don't think it's quite the same as if you had experienced that in your home country, but it's still eye-opening and unfortunate that you had to experience that nonetheless.
Click to expand...
Un-fucking-believable
 
M

Merc_

Member
cpp_is_king said:
I mentioned this in another thread. The only thing noteworthy here is that they said it in English. When you go to Thailand, Japan, Russia, hell you name it, it's all the same except you don't understand what they're saying.

Obviously you were there and you can judge their demeanor better than I can, but there's a chance they don't have the same grasp as us about how offensive the word is. Like I know when I learn a foreign language I always like to know the "bad words" and I use them sometimes jokingly, and often inappropriately. Others get offended, but to me the word doesn't have the same meaning. After I become more comfortable with the language and culture, I begin to understand how offensive the words are and take on a different attitude.

So, I don't think it's quite the same as if you had experienced that in your home country, but it's still eye-opening and unfortunate that you had to experience that nonetheless.
Click to expand...

I seriously fucking doubt that. Holy hell.
 
G

GoldenEye 007

Member
Yeah there are definitely a good number of countries I just won't consider going to. I'm planning a honeymoon for next year and SE Asia is something we're exploring. But good chance we'll end up picking somewhere else.

Sometimes I try I keep it grounded by saying I'm in the US, but something about the thought of running into that in a foreign, unknown environment. Just makes it even more fearful.
 
C

cpp_is_king

Member
EdibleKnife said:
Christ that sounds awful. Sorry you even had to deal with a drop of that, OP. And I bet 100% if you got angry about it, they'd call you the asshole. Just goes to show the "just a different culture/customs" argument for racist ignorance is BS. These people wanted you to feel unwelcome.



"I love my country nigger free". You're honestly gonna say that's not offensive or is a funny joke in anyway?
Click to expand...

No, I got nothing on that one.

FWIW I've never even been to Eastern Europe, but I've travelled to at least 3 Asian countries with black friends where I understand the langauge, and I hear constant remarks on the street, but in the local language. Needless to say I don't translate. Usually they aren't derogatory but more along the lines of "Oh shit a black person". Like I said, OP was there so he/she has the best judge on how hateful the comments were, just putting in perspective that a) people whose native language is not English may not grasp how offensive the word is and b) I've experienced remarks directed towards black people in many different countries.
 
C

Chaos2Frozen

Member
HisImperialMajesty said:
Reminds me of when I was with my family in Sweden and a car slowed down and the people started yelling out "CHING CHONG" loudly at us. No shame at all.

A lot of Europeans can be racist as fuck, but because of the monocultural nature of these countries, things like police brutality don't happen and these countries are seen as liberal paradises. It's easy to forget that European countries have a very recent history of colonialism, imperialism and slavery that still shape their views towards race to this very day.
Click to expand...

That's the thing I've been wondering- a Lot of these "paradise European countries" that Americans always say they want to move to, how many of them only applies if you look like them?
 
I

ilikesleepingmore

Neo Member
You shouldn't be surprised. We live in a system of white supremacy. No matter what country you go to, you're going to encounter people who don't think highly of black people. The mentality is global.

The sooner you realize this, the quicker you can brush the shit off and keep it pushin.
 
B

BeeDog

Member
I'm from one of the former Yugoslavian countries, and reputation-wise, everyone says that Bulgaria is the most xenophobic out of all of them. Really sad to hear about your experience. :( A quite typical reaction in other Eastern European countries tends to be "holy shit, a black person" but oftentimes without any more follow-up than that. Thankfully, the generational shifts are slowly (slowly!) destroying the xenophobia.
 
H

HisImperialMajesty

Member
cpp_is_king said:
I mentioned this in another thread. The only thing noteworthy here is that they said it in English. When you go to Thailand, Japan, Russia, hell you name it, it's all the same except you don't understand what they're saying.

Obviously you were there and you can judge their demeanor better than I can, but there's a chance they don't have the same grasp as us about how offensive the word is. Like I know when I learn a foreign language I always like to know the "bad words" and I use them sometimes jokingly, and often inappropriately. Others get offended, but to me the word doesn't have the same meaning. After I become more comfortable with the language and culture, I begin to understand how offensive the words are and take on a different attitude.

So, I don't think it's quite the same as if you had experienced that in your home country, but it's still eye-opening and unfortunate that you had to experience that nonetheless.
Click to expand...

Yes, every language has their own share of ethnic slurs. However, when you go to say, Japan, how often do you have it directed to your face? You know when you're being insulted, no matter what the language.

Also, Eastern Europe isn't so isolated that these people don't know the gravity of the word they are using. Thanks to the power of Hollywood media, people around the world, from Japan to Russia to Bulgaria, know very well that "n*gger" is a word used to insult black people.

There's no need to apologize for these racists in these countries and the racist cultures that breed them.
 
E

eggandI

Banned
Now I know you know there's a ton of great Caribbean countries you could have gone to for an anniversary instead. Who convinced you to go to Bulgaria? You gf black right?
5I5s8.png
 
G

GCX

Member
cpp_is_king said:
Obviously you were there and you can judge their demeanor better than I can, but there's a chance they don't have the same grasp as us about how offensive the word is. Like I know when I learn a foreign language I always like to know the "bad words" and I use them sometimes jokingly, and often inappropriately. Others get offended, but to me the word doesn't have the same meaning. After I become more comfortable with the language and culture, I begin to understand how offensive the words are and take on a different attitude.

So, I don't think it's quite the same as if you had experienced that in your home country, but it's still eye-opening and unfortunate that you had to experience that nonetheless.
Click to expand...
When someone says "I love my country nigger free", they definitely understand how offensive their words are.
 
G

GhostTrick

Banned
cpp_is_king said:
I mentioned this in another thread. The only thing noteworthy here is that they said it in English. When you go to Thailand, Japan, Russia, hell you name it, it's all the same except you don't understand what they're saying.

Obviously you were there and you can judge their demeanor better than I can, but there's a chance they don't have the same grasp as us about how offensive the word is. Like I know when I learn a foreign language I always like to know the "bad words" and I use them sometimes jokingly, and often inappropriately. Others get offended, but to me the word doesn't have the same meaning. After I become more comfortable with the language and culture, I begin to understand how offensive the words are and take on a different attitude.

So, I don't think it's quite the same as if you had experienced that in your home country, but it's still eye-opening and unfortunate that you had to experience that nonetheless.
Click to expand...



People use the internet. I doubt it's a word you learn without knowing. Especially when said person says "I like my country nword free".

You're right, it's a cultural difference. As in a lot of people in these countries are openly racists.
 
F

Falk

that puzzling face
cpp_is_king said:
Usually they aren't derogatory but more along the lines of "Oh shit a black person".
Click to expand...

You're comparing apples to oranges here w.r.t. the situation in the OP.

at least 3 Asian countries
Click to expand...

edit: I'd go out on a limb to say the situation and general reaction is different from 'asian country' to 'asian country'. People in Japan don't react the way people from South East Asia don't react the way mainland China does.
 
G

GoldenEye 007

Member
eggandI said:
Now I know you know there's a ton of great Caribbean countries you could have gone to for an anniversary instead. Who convinced you to go to Bulgaria? You gf black right?
5I5s8.png
Click to expand...
I've heard even DR has racial issues against those with darker skin. Shits everywhere.
 
F

Frozenprince

Banned
eggandI said:
Now I know you know there's a ton of great Caribbean countries you could have gone to for an anniversary instead. Who convinced you to go to Bulgaria? You gf black right?
5I5s8.png
Click to expand...

Everybody wants that romantic European city holiday. It's charming, it'll be fun, it's just like the movies.

No, no it isn't. I strongly advise against Prague for the same reasons.

Falk said:
You're comparing apples to oranges here w.r.t. the situation in the OP.
Click to expand...

It's a false equivalence to try and make this better than it was and minimize the racism of it because "they're ignorant not hateful probably".
 
C

cpp_is_king

Member
GCX said:
When someone says "I love my country nigger free", they definitely understand how offensive their words are.
Click to expand...

You are certainly right there, I really have no experience with Eastern Europe but if it's as bad as other people in the thread are making it out to be, maybe my experiences in Asia do not apply.
 
F

FreeMufasa

Junior Member
I see the Euro racism defenders are starting to show up. Don't worry OP, being called a nigger in Eastern Europe is different than in the US/UK. Please try to understand them and their history
 
spons

spons

Gold Member
HisImperialMajesty said:
Reminds me of when I was with my family in Sweden and a car slowed down and the people started yelling out "CHING CHONG" loudly at us. No shame at all.

A lot of Europeans can be racist as fuck, but because of the monocultural nature of these countries, things like police brutality don't happen and these countries are seen as liberal paradises. It's easy to forget that European countries have a very recent history of colonialism, imperialism and slavery that still shape their views towards race to this very day.
Click to expand...

I don't think Eastern Europe is seen as a liberal paradise. In case you're talking about North-Western Europe, most of those countries are far from monocultural, just not black culture.
 
T

Tagyhag

Member
Frozenprince said:
Everybody wants that romantic European city holiday. It's charming, it'll be fun, it's just like the movies.

No, no it isn't. I strongly advise against Prague for the same reasons.
Click to expand...

It's sad, no one should have to fear going to places that a lot of people loved just because of the color of their skin.

I'm saying such an obvious fucking thing and still...

People are just fucked OP, I'm sorry bro.
 
F

Falk

that puzzling face
Frozenprince said:
It's a false equivalence to try and make this better than it was and minimize the racism of it because "they're ignorant not hateful probably".
Click to expand...

cpp_is_king said:
You are certainly right there, I really have no experience with Eastern Europe but if it's as bad as other people in the thread are making it out to be, maybe my experiences in Asia do not apply.
Click to expand...

Yeah, it really doesn't compare. Let's leave it at that.
 
G

GhostTrick

Banned
Frozenprince said:
Everybody wants that romantic European city holiday. It's charming, it'll be fun, it's just like the movies.

No, no it isn't. I strongly advise against Prague for the same reasons.
Click to expand...



I think you guys in the USA has seen too much movies :")
Europe =/= Entire Europe. If you want a romantic and decent city, stay within Western Europe. Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelone, Berlin, Rome. Even then, you may encounter idiots. But at least, not as open.
 
R

reKon

Banned
Guess I know where I'm not going anytime soon. But then again there are 1000 other places of rather go.

Sorry about that experience OP.
 
-Plasma Reus-

-Plasma Reus-

Service guarantees member status
Advice:
Abandon anything east of Germany. The best way to beat their racism is to not give your money.
Italy is on the dangerous side. Spain too depending on where you're going.
 
F

Frozenprince

Banned
GhostTrick said:
I think you guys in the USA has seen too much movies :")
Europe =/= Entire Europe. If you want a romantic and decent city, stay within Western Europe. Paris, Amsterdam, Barcelone, Berlin, Rome. Even then, you may encounter idiots. But at least, not as open.
Click to expand...

My general rule is "anywhere East of Berlin" is a no-no.
 
G

GoldenEye 007

Member
Frozenprince said:
Everybody wants that romantic European city holiday. It's charming, it'll be fun, it's just like the movies.

No, no it isn't. I strongly advise against Prague for the same reasons.



It's a false equivalence to try and make this better than it was and minimize the racism of it because "they're ignorant not hateful probably".
Click to expand...
Shocking about Prague. I assumed that's since it is a much higher profile city, it was a bit above that.
 
R

RM8

Member
The most racist person I know is from Macedonia. I obviously don't mean to say everyone there is racist (as I literally don't know anyone else from Macedonia, lol), but this is a well educated person who has lived in many countries, and that hasn't been enough to change such views... Go figure, Bulgaria is next to Macedonia.

cpp_is_king said:
I mentioned this in another thread. The only thing noteworthy here is that they said it in English. When you go to Thailand, Japan, Russia, hell you name it, it's all the same except you don't understand what they're saying.
Click to expand...
I live in Japan and I've never seen this happen (I speak Japanese). The closest would be this time a muscly white guy wearing a sleeveless shirt got in the train and a girl told to her friends "he's so cool! but his face is not too good lol". I can tell you 100% what OP has been experiencing ("I like my country nigger free"? really? that's the same everywhere?) would not be the norm here.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Similar threads

  • Locked
So, I've been pondering over this for a bit. Do you think US Football being our dominant sport is why we have so much gun violence?
Social Opinion
24
1K
AJUMP23 replied
So I've been to Venice
39
2K
ForAcademicPurposes replied
Jim Ryan:"I have the best job in the world, but with each year that passes, jet lag gets harder and harder to deal with"
2 3 4
150
10K
mitch1971 replied
Interview with Shuji Utsumi (SEGA Co-COO) by Japanese media outlet Seizo-Trend
Business Game Dev
1
1K
Unknown? replied
Aria: Story Untold Releases in Fall 2024 | Xbox Direct 2024
News
3
701
Laptop1991 replied
Top Bottom